a. Field of Invention
The invention relates generally to tailgate extenders for pick-up trucks, sport utility vehicles (“SUVs”) and other such vehicles, and more particularly, to a tailgate extender assembly for securing oversized cargo that may extend beyond the cargo storage area of a vehicle, while additionally providing a retractable step assembly for facilitating access to the cargo storage area of the vehicle.
b. Description of Related Art
As is known in the art, pick up trucks, SUVs and other such vehicles are valued for the ability to transport a wide variety of materials. Such vehicles generally include a tailgate that both allows access to the vehicle's cargo bed and acts as a barrier for restraining transported materials within the cargo bed during vehicle operation. The tailgate typically pivots from a generally vertical closed position to a generally horizontal open position that allows for loading and unloading of material respectively to or from the vehicle's cargo bed. Frequently, materials must be transported that do not fit within the vehicle's standard cargo space when the tailgate is in the closed position. The vehicle's user must therefore transport the materials with the tailgate in an open horizontal position or with the materials extending beyond the upper edge of a closed tailgate. In both cases, the materials must be manually secured to one or more structural elements on the vehicle to restrain the materials. The securing process can be time consuming and prone to failure, potentially resulting in materials falling out of the vehicle's cargo bed, thus damaging the materials or other vehicles.
In an effort to address the aforementioned drawbacks of conventional tailgates, several mechanisms have been developed for extending the cargo bed of a vehicle. Known bed extender designs which mount to the exterior of a tailgate can reduce the amount of available storage space within the cargo bed, because the bed extender is stored within the cargo bed when not in use. Additionally, since externally mounted bed extenders are visible even when not in use, such extenders can detract from the overall styling and attractiveness of a vehicle. Other types of bed extenders, such as the extender disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,932,404 to Vejnar, overcome the problems associated with externally mounted extenders by allowing the bed extender to be stored within and deployed out of the body of the tailgate itself. As these bed extenders typically extend horizontally from the open tailgate frame, they can make entry or egress from the vehicle bed even more difficult due to the overall operational characteristics of the extender.
Yet further, as shown in FIG. 13 of Vejnar, the Vejnar internally stored bed extender provides a vertical surface for restraining the transported materials within the extended cargo bed when the bed extender is in use. Specifically, Vejnar discloses a tailgate (3) with slidable back panel (5) and a retractable stop (21) secured a fixed distance from the back panel's pivot axis. While the retractable stop assists in preventing transported materials from sliding out of the cargo bed during operation of the vehicle, particularly during vehicle acceleration, the materials can still move and shift within the cargo bed. The fixed retractable stop creates a space that is often longer than necessary to accommodate the oversized materials and thus permits the stored materials to shift during vehicle operation, potentially damaging both the transported materials and the structural panels within the truck bed. Therefore, manually securing the materials within the cargo bed is still necessary.
As discussed above, a further disadvantage of conventional tailgate bed extenders is the difficulty of entering and exiting the cargo bed of the vehicle with the bed extender in use. Frequently, the deployed bed extender physically prevents access to the cargo bed. Consequently, users must climb over the side walls of the cargo bed using the vehicle's rear tires as a boosting step to enter the cargo area. This process can be inconvenient, as the side wall exteriors of the vehicle can be covered in mud or other debris that can soil clothes. In an effort to overcome the problems associated with boarding, several types of bed extenders have been developed that can be converted to a step for assisting the user in entering the cargo area. However, the assembly that is used as the step is also used as the bed extender and thus the mechanism must be used as either a step or a bed extender, but not both simultaneously.
It is therefore desirable to provide a bed extender that retracts into the tailgate frame when not in use, and that securely and safely restrains materials within the cargo bed without the need for manually securing the objects to prevent sliding in the bed area. It is further desirable to provide a means for easily entering and exiting the cargo bed of a vehicle when the bed extender is either in the extended or retracted position.